


Meaningful Moments

by orphan_account



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Angst, Cute, F/M, Fluff, Happy Ending, Heartbreak, Pining, Some not so Happy Endings, Tags will be added in the future, i love them sm, one shots, some - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:55:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22089739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: One shots for the pairing of Ricky Bowen and Gina Porter
Relationships: Ricky Bowen/Gina Porter
Comments: 3
Kudos: 38





	1. Apron

**Author's Note:**

> There needs to be more Rina in the tag so lemme just add some...anyway, this one shot was heavily inspired by the book/movie Little Women, especially that once scene between Laurie and Amy. If you know what I'm talking about you could probably figure out who's who. This was just a quick one shot I wrote last night and decided it was going to be my first entry for the entire one shot thing I plan to continue. So if you read, enjoy!!
> 
> (This is an AU!!!)

She rounded the edge of her small table, placing her painter’s palette down as he watched her, looking at the wisp of hair that flowed out of her bun to the way her feet gently padded around the tarp. She had paint smeared on the middle of her apron, intrictly splattered along her chest. Blues, greens and yellows, some dried, some fresh, plastered on the fabric that protected her beautiful dress. The room was dark, the overcast clouds outside provided a caliginous atmosphere. 

Ricky sat in one of the many chairs around the room, admiring her pieces of art scattered along the walls. He noticed she painted a lot of scenery, with hues of blue and purple to illuminate the night sky, white specks thrown at the edge towards the top of the canvasses. She painted the night a lot, rarely ever the dawn of a new day. 

He liked staring at her work. 

He liked staring at **her** a little more though. 

Gina Porter was a beautiful girl, _no woman_ , with talent in multiple regions. She was graceful as she was powerful, he believed she represented many natural wonders. Mountains, with how bold and strong she was. The sea with how calm and comforting she could be. Even a thunderstorm, with her natural drive to be fierce and brave. _Ricky believed she was a natural wonder all on her own._

“Thomas will be arriving shortly, you must leave.” 

She rubbed her hands in a cloth, scrubbing off the excess paint that landed on her fingertips and palms. He had found himself too comfortable in the chair to move, even when she stared at him with a pair of tired eyes. 

He hated Thomas, a fool that lacked common sense and charisma, a boy undeserving of Gina Porter. **He didn’t love her** , simply put. Ricky had seen the way he eyed other women when he was around, mentally punching him in the jaw every single time. 

“Why do I need to leave, why can’t I stay?” He shifted his position, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. He wanted to tease her, _rile her up_. It was easy for him to do. It was fun, seeing how quickly she could start fuming with just words. 

“Because Thomas is the man I plan to marry, **not you**. I want to have dinner with the man I plan to marry, not a-” She threw her cloth down on the table, throwing her shoulders in a shrug as she sucked on her bottom lip. He watched the action, fingers intertwining tightly as he squinted his eyes at her hesitation. 

“Not a...not a what? What am I, Miss. Gina Porter.” He stood up, flexing his hands as he took closer steps. She watched him, or rather the long strides he took, his hands placed behind his back as he taunted her words. “A boy turned man right in front of your eyes that you’ve known for how many years?” He pressed on, urging for the woman in front of him to do something. But she stood, unwavering--steady--as he approached her with intent. 

“You wouldn’t want to have dinner with him, hm?” He stood a few inches before her, his left hand holding his right wrist tightly as she took in deep breaths. She wouldn’t cower under him, she’d never falter under the stare of a man, Gina Porter would rather **die**. But there was something in her demeanor that changed, in her breathing, that only Ricky Bowen had the ability to cause. 

He knows she thinks he doesn’t see it, or _feel_ it, but he does. It’s the reason why he continues to do it. 

“No. I wouldn’t want to have dinner with a man who’s more **drunk than sober**.” She turned swiftly, unclipping her painting from the easel before walking over to a designated empty space, placing it on the ground and admiring her work. 

Ricky was an honest man who accepted the truth more than anything else in the world. So he wasn’t too shocked to hear such a correct statement come out of her mouth. He was indeed a man more often drunk than sober, he had even tried to hide the headache he had when he showed up, sheepishly accepting the tea she made for him to cure it away. 

“Okay, well, yes--”

**_why lie_ **

“But wouldn’t you want to have dinner with a man who knows you?” He walked over to her, standing close to her in the next second as she spoke again. “Thomas knows me.” She took her hands and placed them over the hem of her apron, where the chest piece met the skirt. She looked at her painting, critiquing them in her head as he watched her. “No he doesn’t.” She attempted to walk away, a sign that she didn’t want to speak to him anymore, a sign he never cares enough to listen to. He took ahold of her arm, gently clasping it as he pulled her towards him. 

“Thomas Humble doesn’t know you and he never will, not like I do.” His words sent shivers down her spine and he knew it, by the way she glanced at him before staring at his flesh meeting her clad arm. He let go, dragging his fingers down her arm and brushing them along hers, only to feel them retract away. 

“He can learn to know me, that’s the whole point of dinner is it not?” She spoke with venom as she peered at him through her lashes, pursing her lips as he merely looked back with a cheeky grin. This is what he always loved about them, their banter, their bickering that prevailed through every conversation they had. 

“Maybe he can. But he’ll never know the real you. He’ll never know the you that I know.” 

He exhaled, slowly, knowing his breath washed over her like a cloud on intoxication. He could lean down and kiss her, feel the fight drain from her body as he would hold her by the neck and waist, finally know that she loved him just as much as he loved her. 

But suddenly there was a knock at the front door, echoing through the abundantly decorated house, seizing their moment just as it began. “That must be the man you plan to marry.” He hummed as her head turned back to the door, eyeing the hallway that led to the entrance of the large estate. He tightened the grip on his wrist at the thought of leaving her alone with Thomas. At leaving her in general. 

“ _I need you to untie my apron._ ” She turned around fully, her back facing him as he stared at the nape of her neck, glancing at the hair that was curly from root to end. He unraveled his hand from his wrist and braced them against the tied knot, twisting his fingers and pulling the string out slowly. He had pulled her closer, untying and loosening the fabric as the seconds ticked by slower and slower. 

He took his time, sighing contently at the proximity of her in front of him, his hands delicately pulling the strings apart. 

_Slowly but surely._

The way her dress was made allowed for a large portion of the skin on her back to show, allowed for him to gently brush his knuckles against the bones that softly poked out. He was at the end of the apron, the strings limply hanging from the top of the fabric, waiting to be taken off of her body. So he took the ends of the apron and bunched it around to the front of her waist, coming closer and pressing his chest against her back. 

She didn’t move, her hands going up to pull the sleeves away from her arms, pulling them down as he let go, the fabric falling from her body all at once. She let him stand behind her, let herself stand in front of him, her body betraying her mind as part of her enjoyed the breathing placed upon her neck. 

“ _Don’t marry a fool…_ ” Nothing more than a whisper, a whisper that reverberated through her whole body, through her entire soul. She wanted to turn around and slap him, push him away and run to the man that would bring her great fortune, a family. But she enjoyed the way Ricky made her feel entirely too much, how young and free and wild her spirit felt around him. 

Ricky Bowen was a man of **sin** , born into a family of riches built on **thievery**. He wore a childish persona proudly, an individual who always got what he wanted. But he had wanted something so unattainable for the longest time. A woman not of sin but of _beauty_ and _pureness_ , of proud family heritage and riches. A women who had men mewling at her feet, rightfully so, but so blinded by the false pretense of a man who could bring her a lavish life. 

Thomas Humble could not bring her what she wants. Thomas Humble would seek her out of her happiness, destroy the person she truly is, he would not bring her what she wants. Ricky, the man who had nothing but words on the other hand, could. He could bring her a life worth living for, he’d make her feel happy and loved and--

But Ricky Bowen _wasn’t_ the man Gina Porter was supposed to marry. 

**That** man stood outside the door, harboring a bouquet of flowers, waiting to proclaim his love with material things. She’d fond over them, in front of him, display a sort of fake content for the world to see. But she knew better, she knew that it wouldn’t last.

But she’d still go through with it. 

“Leave towards the back, Thomas wouldn’t feel welcomed at the sight of you.” She walked off, smoothing her dress as her hair flowed with her, leaving him to stand there, alone with ~~nothing~~ no one to hold. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants, staring at the entrance of room, a small sliver of him hoping she’d turn back and run into his arms. 

But even he knew better. 

So he left, leaving her alone to be with Thomas because that’s what she desired. And if she desired someone that wasn’t him, then so be it. But he’d be back soon, continuing the cycle until something works in his favor. 

For now he’d let her be with him, be who she believes she is. 

For now he’d wait.


	2. Ice Skating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ricky's great at Ice Skating...Gina...is not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this way before Christmas and now it's January haha. But ice skating is still a winter thing so lemme just publish this. It's cute and a break from angst, but don't worry, more angst will arrive in the future. Tehehe. But for now, have some cute fluff!!!

Ricky thinks ice skating is a _wonderful_ idea. 

Gina thinks it’s a _horrible_ one. 

“The last time I went ice skating I fractured my wrist.” Gina’s putting up her binders in her locker when Ricky suggest the date idea. “Well, that’s because I wasn’t there to help you.” Ricky looks at her with a fond smile on his face. 

The last date they went on ended in disaster, quite literally. They had been making Christmas themed cookies and Gina had reached over to get the eggs but accidently knocked over the opened bag of flour. Suddenly they were both caked in white. The flour had managed to get into Ricky’s eyes and in Gina’s mouth and they both looked like they had been dragged through hell. 

Their cookies ended up being burned too. 

So flash forward to the next week and Ricky wanted to have another date, one where Gina couldn’t possibly knock anything over. “Why can’t we just try the cookie thing again, this time, the flour will not be anywhere near me.” Gina closed her eyes as Ricky took her hand, walking to the first class of the day. 

“Nope, we are never baking anything ever again. Come on please, ice skating is fun, I promise.” Ricky uses his secret weapon. His puppy dog eyes that gets Gina to do almost anything. “I hate it when you do that.” Gina looks away, a smile growing on her face. “No, you love it.” Ricky pulls Gina to him and kisses her chastely, before pulling away and heading towards his class. 

“I’ll text you about it, love you!” Ricky races off to his class on the other side of the school, leaving a flustered Gina behind. “Yeah, yeah, love you too.” 

* * *

  
  


“Ricky, I can’t do this.” 

It’s cold and the wind isn’t helping Gina feel any better. Ricky’s nose and ears are as red as can be. _Rudolph the Red nosed Reindeer_ , Gina thinks to herself, as Ricky sniffles and blinks the dryness away from his eyes. “Yes you can, you’re literally a dancer this should come natural to you.” Ricky tightens her laces, earning a scowl from his girlfriend. “That’s not how that works.” Helping her stand up, Ricky holds her hands in his. “I think that’s how that works.” 

Ricky steps over the barrier and enters the rink without hesitation, smoothly standing still as he continued to hold Gina’s hands. “How did you do that?” Gina struggles to get onto the ice, yelping every time she slides. “Practice I guess.” By the time Gina’s fully on the ice Ricky feels like they’re been there for hours already. 

“I feel like this night is gonna end in the ER, I just know it.” Gina says as Ricky begins to move with her, wincing at the tightness growing around his fingers. Ricky laughs as Gina stumbles, bending forward to stop herself from falling. She begins to panic when Ricky lets go and moves away. “Ricky, wh-” He moves from the front to the back of her, wrapping his arms around her torso. He smiles when he feels her relax in his grip and soon they start gliding on the ice, avoiding the other people in the rink. 

**“Please don’t let me fall.”** Ricky grips Gina tighter, laying his head in the crook of her neck as they skate closer to the edge of the rink. “ **Never.”** It’s soft and barely audible but he knows she heard it, her hands brushing over his. They skate like this for a while, happy, a few ‘almost’ slips here and there, but overall, they still hold each other. 

After two hours, Ricky suggest going home and watching a movie. Gina doesn’t want to leave. 

“I thought you said-” She places a finger to his lips, closing her eyes as Ricky only giggles. “I know what I said Bowen, I was wrong.” So they skate a for a little longer, Ricky wanting to see if Gina could do it on her own, and to both their surprise, she can. Until Gina almost plows a kid down and has to watch Gina stumble until she falls straight on her butt. He felt bad for laughing as she struggled to get up, her hand rubbing the ice off. 

“I think I broke my ass.” Gina sighs as she gets into the car, wincing as she sits down, her hand bracing herself against the dashboard. Ricky starts to laugh again, thinking about the whole thing all over again. “If it was broken you wouldn’t be able to walk.” Ricky starts up the car, appreciating the seat warmers that it came with. He plays Mariah Carey, hoping to make Gina feel better, but she still has a pouty look on her face. 

“Wanna get hot cocoa from somewhere?” When he mentions her favorite winter drink a smile grows on her face. “You know me so well.” 

So Ricky drives them to the nearest Starbucks and orders two before driving to Gina’s home, passing by the decorated houses and smiling at all the lights. 

“You know, maybe for our next date should be skydiving-”

“Okay now you’re pushing it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just love them with my entire heart okay.

**Author's Note:**

> Will I ever stop writing ambiguous endings...absolutely not!!! This was quick and rushed and could be better yes, but I just had to write it. So yeah, this is the first one shot (au) for Rina that I wrote and I can't wait to write more!!!


End file.
